Welcome to Northern College Children’s Centre

The centre is set within the grounds of Wentworth Castle just on the outskirts of Barnsley.

Ccentre

At Northern College Children’s Centre, we provide a fun, stimulating, educational and safe environment for all children.

We are able to offer places for children aged two, three and four who qualify for funding, any additional hours that you may require are charged at £3.00 per hour, please contact the Children’s Centre Manager to discuss your requirements.

Contact us: tel 01226 776011 email childrenscentre@northern.ac.uk

We now operate from a purpose built setting. We are able to take:

44 children in total, our age brackets are as follows;

12 children aged from 6 months to under 2

24 children aged from 2 to under 5

8 children aged from 5 to 11 Years 11 months

If you are attending the College as a student and bringing your child, they are obliged to attend the children’s centre whilst you are in class. Children will not be allowed to opt in and out of the Centre. The centre Team will not allow any child to leave the centre with anyone other than the parent or carer unless prior permission has been given and the correct paperwork has been completed. For obvious reasons children will not be allowed into the centre if they have any illness which could be infectious to others. If possible please label all of your child’s clothes and possessions as the centre cannot be held responsible for the loss or damage to any personal items. It is advisable that your child comes with outdoor shoes and coats as we go outdoors each day.

The Centre

Click through the options below to learn more about the centre and what support we can provide for your child.

We plan for all of our children’s development requirements using the EYFS framework. Practitioners support all children to work within this framework but also within their own capabilities. Our key person system ensures that our curriculum is tailored to each child.

All areas of the framework are supported in our setting; this includes messy exploratory play, sand and water areas. We have created a cosy home corner to engage children in imaginative play. We promote Golden Rules within the setting that encourage children to think about being kind and gentle, to share our resources and good listening.

Our setting facilitates the use of a free flow system from indoors to outdoors. Our outdoor area looks out onto established woodland, where children are able to observe wildlife such as squirrels climbing up the trees.

Our specially designed under twos room incorporates a changing area with appropriate low level sinks to encourage self-care skills. We also have a designated sleep area where children can have some quiet time and relax.

The under twos room has a messy area where the children can paint and play in the water and experience various activities that promote the use of their senses and use of different body parts.

We do ask that parents leave a supply of nappies for their child along with wipes and cream if necessary, as the Centre does not supply these. It is also advisable that a spare set of clothes are left.

Our over fives provision is for children of parents that attend short courses at the weekend or during school holidays. We have a range of activities available including arts and craft, construction andsports equipment.We also have a separate quiet space for children to play on iPads, watch a film or play games on the Xbox.

Policies and Procedures

The Northern College Children’s Centre has a wide range of policies and procedures. All of our policies are in line with the requirements set out by OfSTED in the EYFS statutory framework (September 2014). Our policies can be read on the college VLE system if you are a student, if not you can obtain copies of our policies by request from the Children’s Centre.

Parents as partners We encourage parents to be involved as much as possible but do understand that for parents who are studying at the college, time is limited. We actively encourage views or suggestions regarding the Children’s Centre, this can be through an informal chat, at our parent’s forum or by completing one of our questionnaires.

Student Support

The Northern College for Residential Adult Education Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company number 1339524. Registered charity number 507245 – VAT Registration No: 183234078. Registered office: The Northern College, Wentworth Castle, Stainborough, Barnsley, S75 3ET. Northern College is not responsible for the content of external sites. Data Protection Notice